Well, with my husband being out of work for the past 13 months (I hope you're still looking for work for him - IT Security, IT Infrastructure, preferably in the London or West Kent area, but he will travel for contract work), I have had to bite the bullet and sign myself up at the Jobcentre. Why on earth didn't I do this before? Well, when my husband signed up (later rejected, because he's an Australian citizen with no recourse to UK Government Funds), I went along with him, and I'm *certain* the "advisor" said I wasn't entitled to JSA because I was already in receipt of Child Benefit. Looking back, I wonder if what she really said was something along the lines of, "You're probably not looking for work because you have four children to look after" (or words to that effect), but if she'd realised how much of a struggle it's been the past 6 months since my husband was rejected - I could have applied there and then and we'd have had a bit of a breathing space. Oh well. No matter. I'm a dual UK/Australian national, so I'm entitled, so I've applied, and ooh, as in my former life I used to work for the Australian equivalent of the Jobcentre (OH the IRONY) I have put down that I'm looking for jobs of an administrative nature.
Not artist. Not craftsperson. Not creative jobs. Because they don't pay well apparently.
I've applied for quite a few jobs, I've applied for a very exciting one, which might well come my way if my "advisor" sees fit to send my CV to the right place...I'm going to go back to the Jobcentre tomorrow just to make sure (with a spare copy of my CV).So anyway...
Since returning home from my big adventure at the Jobcentre I've been very busy making stuff. You wanna see?
I've had these kilt pins kicking around for a while, and then on Friday I saw a friend's daughter wearing one with bits of stuff hanging off it. "Where'd you get that?" I asked. "Claire's", she replied. "How much?", say I, pound signs appearing inside my head. "Not much", says she, "I bought it for 50p in the sales". "Oh", I reply, much deflated. Still, if they're 50p in the sales, that would indicate that they're more expensive normally...pound signs are still floating about...
Now, the one that ISN'T a kilt pin is my new watch with its super duper watch strap. I purchased, considering I'm going to be a high powered executive secretary shortly (NOT!) a watch from Lidl yesterday. It was £2.99, and officially (and you can probably tell this from the picture on the watch itself) it's a child's watch. "No problem", I think, "I have small wrists, I can fit into a child's watchband!" Of course, that is until I take it home and try to put it on. Yes, it fit, but it had a velcro strap, and the hooks and eyes didn't quite meet, so I sat for a little bit and had a think.
"Ooh! Those leather thongs!" So after a little bit of plaiting and unplaiting, and considering a bead or two might be useful, it's done and so there you go! It's a bit hard to get it tight, but it does the job, and looks quite lovely, if I might say so myself.
So anyway, it's St Valentine's Day today, and so I wish all my regular (and not so regular) readers a very lovely day. If you're selling things for the day, I hope that you do well! I'm taking a few things with me to Church today (including the kilt pins and the felt flower I was commissioned to make last week) to see if I can get some sales. I also have a notice in our Church newsletter about my crochet classes (commencing 22nd February), so hopefully I'll get some interest about that today too. Of course, these aren't the real reason I'm going to Church, merely sidelines!
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